by Thomas Barta | May 22, 2015 | Marketing Leadership
“Who should lead our digital marketing transformation?” Many CEOs are looking for leaders to move the company’s marketing into the future. Too often, however, top marketers don’t make it onto the CEO shortlist because they’ve fallen into a digital CMO trap. It doesn’t...
by Thomas Barta | Apr 9, 2015 | Marketing Leadership
Consumers’ lives wouldn’t be the same without Diet Coke, Swiffer, or Red Bull. The key to market success is innovation–and a fair amount of constructive conflict (from my cmo.com column). When A.G. Lafley took over as CEO of Procter & Gamble...
by Thomas Barta | Mar 27, 2015 | Marketing Leadership
How to claim your marketing seat at the company’s top table? Many marketers work hard but struggle to cut through internally. Why? Because they don’t tackle issues that really matter for the CEO. Don’t let that happen to you (from my cmo.com column). “What...
by Thomas Barta | Mar 20, 2015 | Marketing Leadership
How to find the time to get closer to your customers? Meeting customers is a great source of insight. Too busy? You may have more time than you think (from my cmo.com column). A recent study found that just half of employees’ work hours in large US companies are...
by Thomas Barta | Mar 13, 2015 | Marketing Leadership
Seventy one percent of CMOs have strong top- and bottom-line impact, but over half are struggling in their careers. Better leadership skills would up the career prospects of many marketers. For our new book The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader, Patrick Barwise and I...
by Thomas Barta | May 20, 2014 | CMO Central
CMO is a wonderful role. But some marketing leaders want to go to the very top. The successful Marketing Academy’s Fellowship Programme (launched in 2013) is helping CMO’s to become the CEO’s of tomorrow. Participants will receive personal leadership...
by Thomas Barta | Dec 6, 2013 | Marketing Leadership
Inspirational people are everywhere. On a recent visit to Singapore, my cab suddenly stopped just short of the hotel. It was raining and the area in front of the hotel was gridlocked. Taxis, buses and limousines were all blocking each other — it was...
by Thomas Barta | Jun 18, 2013 | CMO Central
The Marketing Academy’s new Fellowship Programme is helping CMO’s to become the CEO’s of tomorrow. Participants will receive personal leadership coaching by McKinsey and myself. Application deadline for the first programme was July 15, 2013. Great...
by Thomas Barta | Mar 4, 2013 | Marketing Leadership
Millions of marketers master the famous 4Ps of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. But as a marketing executive, you won’t get very far without also mastering the 4Ps of marketing leadership: productivity, purpose, pull and power (from my cmo.com...
by Thomas Barta | Jan 8, 2013 | Marketing Leadership
Apples former boss Steve Jobs still gets many more Google hits than Steve Wozniak, his former partner and ingenious developer of the legendary Apple I computer of 1976. Why? Because expertise is not enough to inspire people and excite markets. Jobs succeeded in taking...
by Thomas Barta | Dec 20, 2012 | Marketing Leadership
Harvard Business Review recently presented the top 10 medical innovations, including regenerative and genetic medicine, surgical robots and virtual visits. In the new millennium, doctors are faced with a flood of possible new treatments. A consultation room with no...
by Thomas Barta | Dec 3, 2012 | Marketing Leadership
The meaning of marketing in the changing insurance sector. Like other industries, the insurance sector recognizes the rising power of consumers and the individualization of their demands. It has responded by boosting its marketing activities and enhancing customer...
by Thomas Barta | Oct 20, 2012 | Marketing Leadership
It takes a mix of talent to pursue a variety of growth strategies simultaneously. Companies looking for growth should focus on leaders with a capacity to understand customers’ evolving needs. Is there a link between growth and specific leadership traits? McKinsey and...
by Thomas Barta | Jul 26, 2012 | CMO Central
As the voice of the consumer in the executive suite, today’s CMO must drive customer orientation and innovation, build bridges and bring skills. Few experts know CMOs and their companies better than executive search consultants specialized in marketing. These experts...
by Thomas Barta | Feb 23, 2012 | CMO Central
A new study shows that the CMO role is now becoming an essential function in companies, but there is still a long way to go to achieve influence and control. Spurring CMOs on to take charge! At senior executive level in many firms, CMOs still have to prove...
by Thomas Barta | Jan 22, 2012 | CMO Central
What are the challenges facing CMOs? What are their worries? What ideas are available to help with these? IBM has news. Once again, ‘Big Blue’ has lived up to its nickname: in the company’s first study of this kind, IBM consultants asked over 1,700 CMOs in 64...
by Thomas Barta | Jan 2, 2012 | Marketing Leadership
Between 2008 and 2010, companies with more diverse top teams were also top financial performers. That’s probably no coincidence. There are many reasons companies with more diverse executive teams should outperform their peers: fielding a team of top executives with...
by Thomas Barta | Oct 22, 2011 | CMO Central
A recent US study has caused a stir: firms with a CMO on the management team are not more successful than firms without a CMO. Do we need CMOs? CMOs now need to prove their worth. (This is my first ever public blog post as Managing Director & Founder of the...
